 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a type of drone that lifts off like a helicopter and cruises like a small plane.){kind=link}
Turkey and Egypt signed an agreement in Cairo on Tuesday to jointly produce vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a type of drone that lifts off like a helicopter and cruises like a small plane.
The deal is between HAVELSAN, a Turkish defense contractor, and Egypt’s Arab Organization for Industrialization, a state owned conglomerate that runs military factories. Production will take place at the AOI-affiliated Kader Factory for Developed Industries in Cairo, according to Egyptian and regional reports.
An agreement for the production of vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicles (VTOL-UAV) was signed in Cairo between the Turkish company HAVELSAN and the Egyptian Organization for Industrialization (AOI).
Congratulations on this achievement.
The production process… pic.twitter.com/L1Uik3F8q1
— Salih Mutlu Şen (@TurkishCairoAmb) August 26, 2025
Turkey’s ambassador in Cairo, Salih Mutlu Şen, announced the agreement on X and congratulated both sides. He called the project a new step in cooperation between Ankara and Cairo.
Neither side released specifications or a delivery timeline. Janes reported that HAVELSAN briefly posted, then removed, a statement about joint production, and showed a video of HAVELSAN’s BAHA, a small fixed-wing VTOL drone. Some Egyptian outlets referred to a model called “Torgha” or “Turkha,” a name not confirmed by HAVELSAN.
AOI is a state entity overseen by a committee chaired by Egypt’s president, and it serves as a hub for local manufacturing and licensed production. HAVELSAN is owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and develops software, autonomous systems and command-and-control products.
The drone deal follows a March agreement for joint production of unmanned ground vehicles at the same Kader factory. HAVELSAN and AOI said project aims to build vehicles in Egypt under license with Turkish technical support.
The agreement comes after a thaw in relations. Turkey and Egypt restored full diplomatic ties in July 2023 and exchanged ambassadors. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Cairo in February 2024 for talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
HAVELSAN’s VTOL line includes BAHA, which entered the Turkish military’s inventory in April 2025, as well as BULUT, which joined Turkish service this summer.